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Manage Database Backup and Recovery on Oracle Exadata Database Service on Dedicated Infrastructure

Learn how to work with the backup and recovery facilities provided by Oracle Exadata Database Service on Dedicated Infrastructure.

Parent topic: How-to Guides

Oracle Recommended Options to Perform Backup and Recovery Operations

Oracle offers the following options for Oracle Database Backup and Recovery operations. These options are mutually exclusive.

Note

A hybrid configuration, that is, mixing the options is not supported. Mixing the options will break automation.

Option 1: Oracle Managed Backups

Oracle managed backups are entirely managed by Exadata Cloud Infrastructure (ExaDB-D) or Exadata Cloud@Customer (ExaDB-C@C) based on a one-time configuration. Besides being fully integrated into ExaDB-D or ExaDB-C@C cloud services Control Plane, these backups can also be accessed through OCI APIs. Oracle recommends this approach.

  • The dbaascli database backup and dbaascli database recover commands can be used in conjunction with the automated backups for certain operations. For more information, see dbaascli database backup and dbaascli database recover.
  • Customers are allowed to query RMAN views or issue RMAN restore and recovery commands, for example, table, datafile, or tablespace recovery commands.
    Note

    Do not use RMAN configuration to change any of the pre-tuned cloud RMAN settings.

Option 2: User Configured Backups

Customers can also configure backups from the host using the dbaascli database backup and dbaascli database recover commands. These backups, however, are not synchronized with the Control Plane nor are they integrated with the OCI APIs. Also, neither management nor lifecycle operations on these backups are supported from the service Control Plane console. Hence, this is not a recommended approach.

This approach is useful when direct access to Backup destinations is required to perform certain tasks. Accessing the OSS bucket, for example, to replicate backups across regions or monitor Backup Destinations.

If customers configure backups to Object Storage using RMAN without using the OCI Control Plane or OCI APIs, customers are responsible for manually configuring TDE Wallet backups. By default, Oracle cloud automation cleans up archive log files every 24 hours. When you use RMAN to perform manual backups, there is a risk of the archive logs being deleted. Refer to dbaascli database backup for information on how to configure the archive log cleanup. The recommendation is to use Oracle managed backups.

For more information, see User Configured Backup.

Option 3: Backups using RMAN

Backups can be directly taken using RMAN with customer-owned customized scripts. Oracle, however, does not recommend this approach.

It is not recommended to use RMAN backups in conjunction with Oracle Managed Backups or User Configured Backups.

Who can use this option:
  • Customers who want to maintain their existing RMAN backup/restore scripts.
  • Customers who want to configure backups from Standby database in Data Guard environments to offload the backup workload to Standby.

ExaDB-D:

If you plan to backup using RMAN, then you must unregister the database from backup automation. For more information, see Disabling Automatic Backups to Facilitate Manual Backup and Recovery Management.

Managing Exadata Database Backups

Automatic Exadata database backups are managed by Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. You configure this by using the Console or the API.

For unmanaged backups, see Managing Exadata Database Backups by Using dbaascli.

There are two destinations possible for automatic Exadata database backups: Autonomous Recovery Service, or Oracle Object Storage.

The Oracle-managed automatic backups feature is the preferred method for backing up Oracle Cloud databases because you can easily configure backup settings using the Console. The automatic backups feature supports Recovery Service and Object Storage as the backup destination to provide you with a fully automated cloud backup solution with the same cost. You do not need to perform any manual backups or backup storage administration tasks. You can also store backups in local storage. Each backup destination has its advantages and requirements that you should consider, as described below.

Recovery Service (Recommended)

A fully managed service based on the on-premises Oracle’s Zero Data Loss Recovery Appliance technology which offers modern cybersecurity protection for Oracle Databases. Unique, automated capabilities protect Oracle Database changes in real time, validate backups without production database overhead, and enable fast, predictable recovery to any point in time.

If your backups are currently configured with Object Storage, you can seamlessly transition to Recovery Service to achieve advanced capabilities with the same cost.

For more information on Recovery Service, see About Oracle Database Autonomous Recovery Service.

Object Storage

A secure, scalable, on-demand storage solution for databases.

Note

If you previously used dbaascli to configure backups and then you switch to using the Console or the API for backups:

  • A new backup configuration is created and associated with your database. This means that you can no longer rely on your previously configured unmanaged backups to protect your database.

Managed Backup Types and Usage Information

There are two types of automatic Exadata database backups: Autonomous Recovery Service, and Oracle Object Storage.

The database and infrastructure (the VM cluster or DB system) must be in an β€œAvailable” state for a backup operation to run successfully. Oracle recommends that you avoid performing actions that could interfere with availability (such as patching operations) while a backup operation is in progress. If an automatic backup operation fails, the Database service retries the operation during the next day’s backup window. If an on-demand full backup fails, you can try the operation again when the Exadata Cloud Infrastructure instance and database availability are restored.

When you enable the Automatic Backup feature, either service creates daily incremental backups of the database to the selected Backup Destination.

If you choose to enable automatic backups, you can control the retention period. The system automatically deletes backups when the assigned retention period is expired.

Object Storage Backup retention period: 7, 15, 30, 45, 60. Default: 30 days.

The automatic backup process starts at any time during your daily backup window. You can optionally specify a 2-hour scheduling window for your database during which the automatic backup process will begin. There are 12 scheduling windows to choose from, each starting on an even-numbered hour (for example, one window runs from 4:00-6:00 AM, and the next from 6:00-8:00 AM). Backups jobs do not necessarily complete within the scheduling window.

The default backup window of 00:00 to 06:00 in the time zone of the Exadata Cloud Infrastructure instance's region is assigned to your database if you do not specify a window. Note that the default backup scheduling window is six hours long, while the windows you specify are two hours long.

Autonomous Recovery Service protection policy:
  • Bronze :14 days
  • Silver: 35 days
  • Gold: 65 days
  • Platinum: 95 days
  • Custom defined by you
  • Default: Silver - 35 days

The automatic backup process starts at any time or within the assigned window.

Note

  • Data Guard: You can enable the Automatic Backup feature on a database with the standby role in a Data Guard association.
  • Backup Retention Changes: If you shorten your database's backup retention period or your protection policy in the future, existing backups falling outside the updated retention period are deleted by the system.
  • Backup Storage Costs: Automatic backups incur storage usage costs for either Autonomous Recovery Service or Object Storage depending on the backup destination selected.

You can create a full backup of your database at any time using either service.

When you terminate an Exadata Cloud Service instance database, all of its resources are deleted. Managed backups using the Object Storage destination will be deleted, and Managed backups using the Autonomous Recovery Service will be deleted according to the deletion option selected. Standalone backups created in Object Storage will remain after the database is terminated and must be manually deleted. You can use a standalone backup to create a new database.

To align with the Oracle recommended practice of using SYSBACKUP administrative privilege for Backup and Recovery operations, cloud automation creates a common administrative user C##DBLCMUSER with SYSBACKUP role at the CDB$ROOT container level. Backup and Recovery operations are therefore performed with the user having the least required privileges. Credentials for this user are randomly generated and securely managed by cloud automation. If the user is not found or is LOCKED and EXPIRED, then cloud automation will recreate or unlock this user during the backup or recovery operation. This change in the cloud automation is made starting with dbaastools version 21.4.1.1.0.

Long-Term Retention Backup with Recovery Service

Long-term retention backup (LTR) allows you to store full backups for periods up to ten years for compliance, regulatory, or other business needs with complete LTR lifecycle management and immutability.

For LTR with Recovery Service, the retention period must be in Days (90 - 3,650) or years (1 - 10) from when the backup was created.

To create an LTR backup with the required retention period, Recovery Service does not require creating a new full production backup but does so by utilizing already existing operational backups in the system within the defined recovery window in the policy. For more information, see To create an on-demand backup of a database.

You can change the retention period for a specific existing LTR backup within the retention period. For more information, see To change the retention period of an LTR backup with Recovery Service.

You can restore an LTR backup to create a new database within the retention period. For more information, see To create a database from a backup.

Upon terminating a database, the LTR backups will be deleted as per the 'Deletion options after database termination' value.

  • Delete backups in 72 hours: All backups, including long-term backups, will be deleted.
  • Delete based on policy: LTR backups will be retained according to the retention policy of each LTR backup.

Note: Oracle recommends choosing 'Delete based on policy' option while terminating a database to ensure the long-term backups are retained.

Consider the following additional factors for long-term backups:

  • LTR backups will continue to exist independently of any automatic backups configured on the database.
  • LTR backups will be automatically deleted after the specified retention period ends.
  • In-place restore is not supported for LTR.
  • For databases in a Data Guard configuration, the long-term backup will be created only for the database where it is requested.
  • The database must be in the AVAILABLE state to create a LTR.
  • LTR is supported for databases with file-based TDE or KMS-based keystores.
  • Encryption keys will be maintained for the entire retention period of the LTR.
  • An LTR backup can be canceled while it is in the 'creating' state.
  • An LTR backup can be deleted at any time after it is created.
  • During restore:
    • If the backup is of a supported DBHome major version, it will be restored to the latest RU of that version.
    • If the backup is of an unsupported DBHome major version, it will be restored to a supported major version, after which the database must be upgraded to any of the supported major versions.

Default Backup Channel Allocation

The default settings for database backup channels when using "Oracle Managed Backup" or "User Configured Backup"

When a database is configured for backup using "Oracle Managed Backup" or "User Configured Backup", the tooling uses "default" for the backup channels. When default is used, dbaas will determine the number of channels to allocate at the time the backup or restore command is executed. The number of channels allocated is determined by the OCPU count of the node. The following table provides the values used and the OCPU range, both the OCPU and the channel values are per node. Restore operations are prioritized. The cluster-wide total channel count is the per node value multiplied by the number of nodes. The automation uses the SCAN to distribute RMAN channels across all nodes in the cluster.

OCPUs Per Node Formula Backup Channels Allocation Per Node Restore Channels Allocation Per Node
Less than or equal to 12 OCPU <= 12 2 4
Greater than 12 and less than or equal to 24 OCPU > 12 and OCPU <= 24 4 8
Greater than 24 OCPU > 24 8 16

If needed, a static per node value can be set by using the DBAASCLI getConfig/configure to generate a bckup cfg and setting the parameter bkup_channels_node to the number of channels per node desired.

Valid values are 1 - 32: The total channel count will be the value times the number of nodes. This value cannot exceed the limit of 255 channels. A value of default for bkup_channels_node sets OCPU channel based allocation.

Prerequisites for Backups on Exadata Cloud Infrastructure

Recovery Service

Ensure that your tenancy is configured to use Recovery Service.

Table 5-4 Review the prerequisite tasks before you use Recovery Service as the automatic backup destination

Task More Information Required or Optional

Create IAM policies

Policies to Enable Access to Recovery Service and Related Resources

Required

Configure network resources and register a Recovery Service subnet

Creating a Recovery Service Subnet in the Database VCN

Required

Create protection policies

Review Protection Policies for Database Backup Retention

Optional

For more information about Recovery Service, see Overview of Oracle Database Autonomous Recovery Service.

Object Storage

  • The Exadata Cloud Service instance requires access to the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Object Storage. Oracle recommends using a service gateway with the VCN to enable this access. For more information, see Network Setup for Exadata Cloud Infrastructure Instances. In that topic, pay particular attention to:
  • An existing Object Storage bucket to use as the backup destination. You can use the Console or the Object Storage API to create the bucket. For more information, see Managing Buckets.
  • An auth token generated by Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. You can use the Console or the IAM API to generate the password. For more information, see Working with Auth Tokens.
  • The user name specified in the backup configuration file must have tenancy-level access to Object Storage. An easy way to do this is to add the user name to the Administrators group. However, that allows access to all of the cloud services. Instead, an administrator should create a policy like the following that limits access to only the required resources in Object Storage for backing up and restoring the database:
    Allow group <group_name> to manage objects in compartment <compartment_name> where target.bucket.name = '<bucket_name>'
Allow group <group_name> to read buckets in compartment <compartment_name>

    For more information about adding a user to a group, see Managing Groups. For more information about policies, see Getting Started with Policies.

Using the Console to Manage Backups

You can use the Console to enable automatic incremental backups, create full backups on demand, and view the list of managed backups for a database. You can also use the Console to delete manual (on-demand) backups.

Note

  • All backups are encrypted with the same master key used for Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) wallet encryption.
  • Backups for a particular database are listed on the details page for that database. The Encryption Key column displays either Oracle-Managed Key or a key name if you are using your own encryption keys to protect the database. See Backing Up Vaults and Keys for more information.
Note

Do not delete any necessary encryption keys from the vault because this causes databases and backups protected by the key to become unavailable.

To configure automatic backups for a database

When you create an Exadata Cloud Infrastructure instance, you can optionally enable automatic backups for the initial database. Use this procedure to enable or disable automatic backups after the database is created.

Note

Databases in a security zone compartment must have automatic backups enabled. See the Security Zone Policies topic for a full list of policies that affect Database service resources.
  1. Open the navigation menu. Click Oracle Database, then click Exadata on Oracle Public Cloud.
  2. Choose your Compartment.
  3. Navigate to the cloud VM cluster or DB system containing the database you want to configure:

    Cloud VM clusters (The New Exadata Cloud Infrastructure Resource Model): Under Oracle Exadata Database Service on Dedicated Infrastructure, click Exadata VM Clusters. In the list of VM clusters, find the VM cluster you want to access and click its highlighted name to view the details page for the cluster.

    DB systems: Under Oracle Base Database, click DB Systems. In the list of DB systems, find the Exadata DB system you want to access, and then click its name to display details about it.

  4. In the list of databases, find the database for which you want to enable or disable automatic backups, and click its name to display database details. The details indicate whether automatic backups are enabled.
  5. Click Configure Automatic Backups.
  6. In the Configure Automatic Backups dialog, enter the following details.
    Note

    Operational backups to two different backup destinations can create data loss scenarios. Therefore, before you enable automatic backups, you must disable manual backup scripts and processes to other storage destinations.
    • Backup Destination: Your choices are Autonomous Recovery Service (default) or Object Storage.

      • Scenario 1: The customer enables automatic backups AND has available limits AND there is available capacity in the region for Autonomous Recovery Service.

        Backup Destination: Your choices are Autonomous Recovery Service (default) or Object Storage. You can switch the backup destination from Autonomous Recovery Service to Object Storage.

      • Scenario 2: Customer enables automatic backups AND has exhausted the default limits for the Recovery Service AND there is available capacity in the region for Autonomous Recovery Service.

        Backup Destination: You can only use Object Storage. However, you can make an additional limits request and then use Autonomous Recovery Service.

        The system displays the following message with a link to request an increase to the limits.

        Tenancy has reached the limit for Autonomous Recovery Service. View your service limits and request an update.

      • Scenario 3: Customer enables automatic backups AND there is no available capacity in the region for Autonomous Recovery Service.

        Backup Destination: You can only use Object Storage. You can transition to Autonomous Recovery Service when there is sufficient capacity.

        The system displays the following message

        Autonomous Recovery Service has no available capacity in this region. Select Object Storage as your backup destination. You can transition from Object Storage to Autonomous Recovery Service when there is sufficient capacity.

        Proactively check if Autonomous Recovery Service capacity is available. If the required capacity becomes available and if you had chosen Object Storage, then you can transition to Autonomous Recovery Service.

    • Backup Scheduling:
      • Object Storage (L0):
        • Full backup scheduling day: Choose a day of the week for the initial and future L0 backups to start.
        • Full backup scheduling time (UTC): Specify the time window when the full backups start when the automatic backup capability is selected.

        • Take the first backup immediately: A full backup is an operating system backup of all datafiles and the control file that constitute an Oracle Database. A full backup should also include the parameter file(s) associated with the database. You can take a full database backup when the database is shut down or while the database is open. You should not normally take a full backup after an instance failure or other unusual circumstances.

          If you choose to defer the first full backup your database may not be recoverable in the event of a database failure.

      • Object Storage (L1):
        • Incremental backup scheduling time (UTC): Specify the time window when the incremental backups start when the automatic backup capability is selected.
      • Autonomous Recovery Service (L0):
        • Scheduled day for initial backup: Choose a day of the week for the initial backup.
        • Scheduled time for initial backup (UTC): Select the time window for the initial backup.
        • Take the first backup immediately: A full backup is an operating system backup of all datafiles and the control file that constitute an Oracle Database. A full backup should also include the parameter file(s) associated with the database. You can take a full database backup when the database is shut down or while the database is open. You should not normally take a full backup after an instance failure or other unusual circumstances.

          If you choose to defer the first full backup your database may not be recoverable in the event of a database failure.

      • Autonomous Recovery Service (L1):
        • Scheduled time for daily backup (UTC): Specify the time window when the incremental backups start when the automatic backup capability is selected.
      • Deletion options after database termination: Options that you can use to retain protected database backups after the database is terminated. These options can also help restore the database from backups in case of accidental or malicious damage to the database.
        • Retain backups for the period specified in your protection policy or backup retention period: Select this option if you want to retain database backups for the entire period defined in the Object Storage Backup retention period or Autonomous Recovery Service protection policy after the database is terminated.
        • Retain backups for 72 hours, then delete: Select this option to retain backups for a period of 72 hours after you terminate the database.
    • Enable Real-Time Data Protection: Real-time protection is the continuous transfer of redo changes from a protected database to Autonomous Recovery Service. This reduces data loss and provides a recovery point objective (RPO) near 0. This is an extra cost option.
  7. Click Save Changes.

    The Database Details page displays the configuration details, Health, Real-Time Data Protection, and Policy information in the Backup section.

To create an on-demand backup of a database

Note

Object Storage creates a full backup of the database while Recovery Service creates an incremental backup.
  1. Open the navigation menu. Click Oracle Database, then click Oracle Exadata Database Service on Dedicated Infrastructure
  2. Choose your Compartment.
  3. Navigate to the cloud VM cluster or DB system containing the database you want to back up:

    Cloud VM clusters ( new resource model): Under Oracle Exadata Database Service on Dedicated Infrastructure, click Exadata VM Clusters. In the list of VM clusters, find the VM cluster you want to access and click its highlighted name to view the details page for the cluster.

    DB systems: Under Bare Metal, VM, and Exadata, click DB Systems. In the list of DB systems, find the Exadata DB system you want to access, and then click its name to display details about it.

  4. In the list of databases, find the database for which you want to create an on-demand full backup and click its name to display database details.
  5. Under Resources, click Backups.

    A list of backups is displayed.

  6. Click Create Backup.
  7. On the resulting Create backup window, do the following:
    • Name: Provide a descriptive name for the backup.
    • Select a Backup retention option:
      • Retain backups per backup retention period: Select this option to use the protection policy retention period for this backup.
      • Specify long-term backup retention period: Select this option to specify an LTR period with Autonomous Recovery Service. The retention period must be entered in Days (90 - 3,650) or Years (1 - 10) from when the backup was created.
  8. Click Create.

To view backup status

  1. Open the navigation menu. Click Oracle Database, then click Oracle Exadata Database Service on Dedicated Infrastructure.
  2. Choose your Compartment.
  3. Navigate to the cloud VM cluster containing the database backup you want to view.
  4. Click Exadata VM Clusters. In the list of VM clusters, find the VM cluster you want to access and click its highlighted name to view the details page for the cluster.
  5. In the list of databases, find the database you are interested in and click its name to display database details.
  6. Under Resources, click Backups.

    A list of backups is displayed. The state column displays the status of the backup: Active, Creating, Canceled, Canceling, or Failed.

To cancel a backup

  1. Open the navigation menu. Click Oracle Database, then click Exadata on Oracle Public Cloud.
  2. Choose your Compartment.
  3. Navigate to the cloud VM cluster containing the database backup you want to view:
  4. Click Exadata VM Clusters.

    In the list of VM clusters, find the VM cluster you want to access and click its highlighted name to view the details page for the cluster.

  5. In the list of databases, find the database you are interested in and click its name to display database details.
  6. Under Resources, click Backups.

    A list of backups is displayed. The state column displays the status of the backup: Active, Creating, Canceled, Canceling, or Failed.

  7. A backup in the Creating state may be canceled by clicking the Actions icon (three dots) on the right of the backup row and clicking Cancel Backup.

    A Cancel Backup confirmation dialog will appear.

  8. Enter the name of the backup, and click Cancel Backup.

    The state changes to Canceling.

    The Cancel backup Work request can be viewed, by clicking Work requests under Resources.

If the Cancel backup fails:

  • In the Work requests pane under Resources, you will see a line item called "Cancel Database Backup" with a state of "Failed". There will also be a work request for the backup "Create Database Backup" that will reflect the state of the Backup operation.

To delete full backups from Object Storage

Note

You cannot explicitly delete automatic backups. Unless you terminate the database, automatic backups remain in Recovery Service and Object Storage for the number of days specified by the user, after which time they are automatically deleted.

  1. Open the navigation menu. Click Oracle Database, then click Oracle Exadata Database Service on Dedicated Infrastructure.
  2. Choose your Compartment.

  3. Navigate to the cloud VM cluster or DB system containing the database backup you want to delete:

    Cloud VM clusters ( new resource model): Under Oracle Exadata Database Service on Dedicated Infrastructure, click Exadata VM Clusters. In the list of VM clusters, find the VM cluster you want to access and click its highlighted name to view the details page for the cluster.

    DB systems: Under Bare Metal, VM, and Exadata, click DB Systems. In the list of DB systems, find the Exadata DB system you want to access, and then click its name to display details about it.

  4. In the list of databases, find the database you are interested in and click its name to display database details.

  5. Under Resources, click Backups.

    A list of backups is displayed.

  6. Click the Actions icon (three dots) for the backup you are interested in, and then click Delete.
  7. Confirm when prompted.

To delete standalone backups from Object Storage

  1. Open the navigation menu. Click Oracle Database, then click Standalone Backups under Resources.
  2. In the list of standalone backups, find the backup you want to use to delete.
  3. Click the Actions menu for the backup you are interested in, and then click Delete.
  4. In the Delete dialog, click Delete to confirm the backup deletion.

To change the retention period of an LTR backup with Recovery Service

  1. Open the navigation menu. Select Oracle Database, then select Oracle Exadata Database Service on Dedicated Infrastructure.
  2. Choose your Compartment.
  3. Navigate to the cloud VM cluster or DB system containing the database you want to change the backup retention period:

    Cloud VM clusters ( new resource model): Under Oracle Exadata Database Service on Dedicated Infrastructure, click Exadata VM Clusters. In the list of VM clusters, find the VM cluster you want to access and click its highlighted name to view the details page for the cluster.

    DB systems: Under Bare Metal, VM, and Exadata, click DB Systems. In the list of DB systems, find the Exadata DB system you want to access, and then click its name to display details about it.

  4. In the list of databases, click the name of the database for which you want to change the retention period.
  5. Under Resources, click Backups.

    A list of backups is displayed.

  6. In the list of backups, click the Actions menu for the backup with type Long-term backup for which you want to change the retention period.
  7. Click Change retention period.
  8. In the resulting Change retention period, change the retention period.
    Note

    The retention period must be entered in Days (90 - 3,650) or Years (1 - 10) from when the backup was created.
  9. Click Save changes.

To designate Autonomous Recovery Service as a Backup Destination for an Existing Database

To designate Autonomous Recovery Service as a Backup Destination for an existing database, use this procedure.

  1. Open the navigation menu. Click Oracle Database, then click Exadata on Oracle Public Cloud.
  2. Choose your Compartment.
  3. Navigate to the database:

    Cloud VM clusters (The New Exadata Cloud Infrastructure Resource Model): Under Exadata on Oracle Public Cloud, click Exadata VM Clusters.

    In the list of VM clusters, find the VM cluster you want to access and click its highlighted name to view the details page for the cluster.

    DB systems: Under Oracle Base Database, click DB Systems.

    In the list of DB systems, find the Exadata DB system you want to access, and then click its name to display details about it.

    On the cloud VM cluster or DB system details page, in the Databases table, click the name of the database to display the Database Details page.
  4. Click Configure automatic backups.
  5. In the resulting window, provide the following details:
    • Enable automatic backup: Check the check box to enable automatic incremental backups for this database. If you are creating a database in a security zone compartment, you must enable automatic backups.
    • Backup Destination: Select Autonomous Recovery Service.
    • Backup Scheduling: If you enable automatic backups, you can choose a two-hour scheduling window to control when backup operations begin. If you do not specify a window, then a six-hour default window of 00:00 to 06:00 (in the time zone of the DB system's region) is used for your database.

    • Protection Policy: If you choose to enable automatic backups, you can choose a policy with one of the following preset retention periods, or a Custom policy.

      Object Storage Backup retention period: 7, 15, 30, 45, 60. Default: 30. The system automatically deletes your incremental backups at the end of your chosen retention period.

      Autonomous Recovery Service protection policy:
      • Bronze: 14 days
      • Silver: 35 days
      • Gold: 65 days
      • Platinum: 95 days
      • Custom defined by you
      • Default: Silver - 35 days
    • Enable Real-Time Data Protection: Real-time protection is the continuous transfer of redo changes from a protected database to Autonomous Recovery Service. This reduces data loss and provides a recovery point objective (RPO) near 0. This is an extra cost option.
  6. Click Save Changes.

Recovering an Exadata Database from Backup Destination

This topic explains how to recover an Exadata database from a backup stored in either Object Storage or Autonomous Recovery Service by using the Console or the API.

  • Object Storage service is a secure, scalable, on-demand storage solution in Exadata Cloud Infrastructure.
  • OracleDatabase Autonomous Recovery Service is a centralized, fully managed, and standalone backup solution for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) databases.

For more information about backing up your databases to Object Storage, see Managing Exadata Database Backups.

Related Topics

Parent topic: Manage Database Backup and Recovery on Oracle Exadata Database Service on Dedicated Infrastructure

Using the Console to restore a database

You can use the Console to restore the database from a backup in a backup destination that was created by using the Console.

Note

LTR backups represent a single point in time for the database, so the following options are not supported when restoring.

You can restore to:

  • Restore to latest: Restores the database to the last known good state with the least possible data loss.
  • Restore to a timestamp: Restores the database to the timestamp specified.
  • Restore to SCN: Restores the database using the SCN specified. This SCN must be valid.
    Note

    You can determine the SCN number to use either by accessing and querying your database host, or by accessing any online or archived logs.
Note

The list of backups you see in the Console does not include any unmanaged backups (backups created directly by using dbaascli).

To restore a database
  1. Open the navigation menu. Click Oracle Database, then click Oracle Exadata Database Service on Dedicated Infrastructure
  2. Choose your Compartment.
  3. Navigate to the cloud VM cluster or DB system containing the database you want to restore:

    Cloud VM clusters (The New Exadata Cloud Infrastructure Resource Model): Under Oracle Exadata Database Service on Dedicated Infrastructure, click Exadata VM Clusters. In the list of VM clusters, find the VM cluster you want to access and click its highlighted name to view the details page for the cluster.

    DB systems: Under Oracle Base Database, click DB Systems. In the list of DB systems, find the Exadata DB system you want to access, and then click its name to display details about it.

  4. In the list of databases, find the database you want to restore, and click its name to display details about it.
  5. Click Restore.
  6. Select one of the following options, and click Restore Database:
    • Restore to the latest: Restores the database to the last known good state with the least possible data loss.
    • Restore to the timestamp: Restores the database to the timestamp specified.

    • Restore to System Change Number (SCN): Restores the database using the SCN specified. This SCN must be valid.

      Note

      You can determine the SCN number to use either by accessing and querying your database host, or by accessing any online or archived logs.
  7. Confirm when prompted.

    If the restore operation fails, the database will be in a "Restore Failed" state. You can try restoring again using a different restore option. However, Oracle recommends that you review the RMAN logs on the host and fix any issues before reattempting to restore the database. These log files can be found in subdirectories of the /var/opt/oracle/log directory.

Managing Exadata Database Backups by Using dbaascli

You can use Exadata's backup utility, dbaascli, to back up databases on an Exadata Cloud Infrastructure instance to an existing bucket in the Oracle Object Storage service.

For backups managed by Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, see Managing Exadata Database Backups.

This topic explains how to:

  • Create a default backup configuration file and modify the parameters to match your requirements to backup the database to object storage service.
  • Associate the backup configuration file with a database. Once the configuration is successful, the database will be backed up as scheduled, or you can create an on-demand backup with a tag.
Note

You must update the cloud-specific tooling on all the compute nodes in your Exadata Cloud Infrastructure instance before performing the following procedures. For more information, see Patching and Updating an Exadata Cloud Infrastructure System Manually.

Default Backup Configuration

Oracle best practice guidelines for default backup configuration.

The default backup configuration follows a set of Oracle best-practice guidelines:

  • Encryption: All backups to Object storage are encrypted.
  • Compression for backups: LOW
  • Default compression for archive logs: false
  • RMAN Encryption Algorithm: AES256
  • Optimization for backups: ON

To get the default backup configuration for a freshly provisioned database

  1. SSH to one of the database configured nodes in the VM cluster or DB system resource.
  2. Log in as opc and then sudo to the root user.
  3. Use the dbaascli database backup --getConfig command to generate a file containing the default backup settings for the freshly provisioned database deployment.
    # dbaascli database backup --getConfig [--configFile <file_name>] --dbname <database_name>
    Where:
    • --getConfig - returns database backup configuration.
    • --configFile - specifies database backup configuration file.

To create a backup configuration file

Note

The following procedure must be performed on the first compute node in the Exadata Cloud Infrastructure VM cluster or DB system resource. To determine the first compute node, connect to any compute node as the grid user and execute the following command:
$ $ORACLE_HOME/bin/olsnodes -n

The first node has the number 1 listed beside the node name.

Note

In dbaascli Release 25.1.2.0.0, the backup configuration parameters have been renamed. However, you can still use the old parameter names, as they are retained for backward compatibility.
  1. SSH to one of the database configured nodes in the VM cluster or DB system resource.
    ssh -i <private_key_path> opc@<node_1_ip_address>
  2. Log in as opc and then sudo to the root user.
    login as: opc [opc@dbsys ~]
$ sudo su -
  3. Use the dbaascli database backup --getConfig command to generate a file containing the current backup settings for the database deployment:
    # dbaascli database backup --getConfig [--configFile <file_name>] --dbname <database_name>
  4. Modify the parameters in the file to meet your requirements.
    Parameter Description
    backupDestination=oss Whether to back up to Object Storage. If yes, you must also provide the parameters bkup_oss_url, bkup_oss_user, bkup_oss_passwd, and bkup_oss_recovery_window.

    Old name: bkup_oss_url=<swift_url>

    New name: ossURL=<swift_url>

    Required if backupDestination=oss.

    The Object Storage URL including the tenant and bucket you want to use. The URL is:

    https://swiftobjectstorage.<region_name>.oraclecloud.com/v1/<tenant>/<bucket>

    Where:

    • <tenant> - lowercase tenant name (even if it contains uppercase characters) that you specify when signing in to the Console
    • <bucket> - name of the existing bucket you want to use for backups.

    Old name: bkup_oss_user=<oci_user_name>

    New name: ossUserName=<oci_user_name>

    Required if backupDestination=oss.

    The user name for the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure user account. This is the user name you use to sign in to the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Console.

    For example, jsmith@example.com for a local user or <identity_provider>/jsmith@example.com for a federated user.

    To determine which type of user you have, see the following topics:

    Note that the user must be a member of the Administrators group, as described in Prerequisites for Backups on Exadata Cloud Infrastructure.

    Old name: bkup_oss_passwd=<auth_token>

    New name: ossAuthToken=<auth_token>

    Required if backupDestination=oss.

    The auth token generated by using the Console or IAM API, as described in Prerequisites.

    This is not the password for the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure user.

    Old name: bkup_oss_recovery_window=n

    New name: ossRecoveryWindow=n

    Required if backupDestination=oss.

    The number of days for which backups and archived redo logs are maintained in the Object Storage bucket. Specify 7 to 90 days.

    Old name: bkup_daily_time=hh:mm

    New name: autoBackupTime=hh:mm

    		 The time at which the daily backup is scheduled, specified in hours and minutes (hh:mm), in 24-hour format.
  5. Use the dbaascli database backup --configure to associate this backup configuration with a database name.
    # dbaascli database backup --configure --configFile <file_name> --dbname <database_name>
  6. Use the dbaascli database backup --status to check the status of UUID generated for this command.
    # dbaascli database backup --status --uuid <uuid> --dbname <database_name>
    Note

    A backup configuration file can contain the credentials to access the Object Storage bucket. For this reason, you might want to remove the file after successfully configuring the backup.

The following parameters can be modified to customize the backup configuration:

Note

Compatible with Console Automatic Backups=Yes indicates the parameter is safe to change, even when using console-based automatic backups. If using parameters with Compatible with Console Automatic Backups=No, then do not enable backups through the console.

Table 5-5 Backup Configuration Parameters - Schedule Parameters to dbaascli

Parameter Description Compatible with Console Automatic Backups*

Old name: bkup_cron_entry

New name: scheduleBackups

Enables the automatic backup configuration.

Valid values are yes and no.

No

Old name: bkup_archlog_cron_entry

New name: manageArchivelogs

Enables automatic backups of archived database log files.

Valid values are yes and no.

Setting manageArchivelogs to no disables automatic archive log clean-up jobs. This setting is valid only when the associated database has no automatic database backups configured.

No

Old name: bkup_l0_day

New name: L0BackupDay

This parameter controls the Level 0 day of the week.

Day of the week when a level 0 backup is taken.

Valid values are mon, tue, wed, thu, fri, sat, and sun. Longer formats, for example, Monday, Tuesday are also supported.

Default: sun.

No

Table 5-6 Backup Configuration Parameters - General RMAN Configuration Parameters (valid for all backup destinations except Local Storage (FRA))

Parameter Description Compatible with Console Automatic Backups*

Old name: bkup_rman_compression

New name: compressionLevel

Level of compression applied to automatic backups.

Valid values are NONE, basic, low, medium, and high.

Default value is low.

A value of NONE disables RMAN compression.

If RMAN compression is enabled, then any TDE encrypted datafile will be decrypted, compressed, and RMAN encrypted.

 Yes

Old name: bkup_section_size

New name: sectionSize

RMAN section size that is used for automatic backups.

Default value is 64G.

 Yes

Old name: bkup_channels_node

New name: channelsPerNode

Number of RMAN channels per node used for automatic backups.

Valid values are between 1 and 32.

Default value is 2.

 Yes

Old name: bkup_daily_time

New name: autoBackupTime

Start time of the automatic daily backup expressed in 24-hour time as hh:mm.

Yes

Old name: bkup_archlog_frequency

New Name: backupFrequencyAL

Interval in minutes between automatic backups of archived database log files.

Valid values are 15, 20, 30, 60, 120 through 1440 in one-hour intervals expressed in minutes.

Default value is 30 for ExaDB-D.

 Yes

Old name: bkup_type

New name: backupDestination

The type of the location where the backup resides. Specify OSS as the backup destination, which is the default and only option.

 Yes

Old name: bkup_filesperset_regular

New name: filesPerSet

 Specifies the maximum number of data files that can be included in a backup set for Regular/Archival backups. Yes

Old name: bkup_filesperset_al

New name: filesPerSetAL

 Specifies the maximum number of archive log files that can be included in a backup set for Archivelog Backups. Yes

Old name: bkup_encryption

New name: encryption

Encryption specifies whether backups should be encrypted or not.

By default, encryption is enabled for OSS and Recovery Service, and this setting cannot be changed.

 Yes

Old name: rmanBackupOptimization

New name: optimization

 Optimization is a feature in that reduces the amount of data that needs to be backed up, transferred, and restored. Recommended value is ON. Yes

Old name: rmanFraCleanupChannels

New name: numberOfChannelsForFraCleanup

 Specifies the number of channels used for FRA Cleanup job. Yes

Old name: Compress_Archive_Logs

New name: compressionAL

Specifies whether to compress the archive log backups are not.

Not applicable to Recovery Service.

 Yes

Old name: bkup_archlog_fra_retention

New name: archivelogRetentionDays

 Specifies the number of days archive log to be retained in FRA. Yes

Table 5-7 Backup Configuration Parameters - Object Storage Service (OSS) Parameters

Parameter Description Compatible with Console Automatic Backups*
backupDestination=oss

Enables backups to cloud storage.

Valid values are yes and no.

No

Old name: bkup_oss_recovery_window

New name: ossRecoveryWindow

Retention period for backups to cloud storage, expressed as a number of days up to 90.

Applicable only when bkup_oss is set to yes or backupdestination is set to OSS.

Default value is 30.

 No

Old name: bkup_oss_url

New name: ossURL

Location of the storage container that is used for backup to cloud storage.

Applicable only when bkup_oss is set to yes or backupdestination is set to OSS.

No

Old name: bkup_oss_user

New name: ossUserName

User name of the Oracle Cloud user having write privileges on the cloud storage container specified in bkup_oss_url.

Applicable only when bkup_oss is set to yes or backupdestination is set to OSS.

No

Old name: bkup_oss_passwd

New name: ossAuthToken

Password of the Oracle Cloud user having write privileges on the cloud storage container specified in bkup_oss_url.

Applicable only when bkup_oss is set to yes or backupdestination is set to OSS.

No

Table 5-8 Backup Configuration Parameters - RMAN Catalog Support Parameters

Parameter Description Compatible with Console Automatic Backups*

Old name: bkup_use_rcat

New name: useCatalog

Enables the use of an existing RMAN recovery catalog.

Valid values are yes and no.

Yes

Old name: bkup_rcat_user

New name: catalogUserName

Recovery catalog user name.

Applicable only when bkup_use_rcat is set to yes.

Yes

Old name: bkup_rcat_passwd

New name: catalogPassword
Password for recovery catalog user specified in 
bkup_rcat_user
.

Applicable only when bkup_use_rcat is set to yes.

Yes

Old name: bkup_rcat_conn

New name: catalogConnectionString

Connection string for the RMAN recovery catalog.

Applicable only when bkup_use_rcat is set to yes.

Yes
Note

Only the above parameters noted with Compatible with Console Automatic Backups = Yes are safe to alter in conjunction with console-based automatic backups. If any other parameters are to be altered, then do not enable backups through the console.

To create an on-demand backup

You can use the dbaascli to create an on-demand backup of a database.

  1. SSH to one of the database configured nodes in the VM cluster or DB system resource.
    ssh -i <private_key_path> opc@<node_1_ip_address>

    To determine the first compute node, connect to any compute node as the grid user and execute the following command: 

    $ $ORACLE_HOME/bin/olsnodes -n

    The first node has the number 1 listed beside the node name.

  2. Log in as opc and then sudo to the root user.
    login as: opc [opc@dbsys ~]
$ sudo su -
  3. You can let the backup follow the current retention policy, or you can create a long-term backup that persists until you delete it:
    • To create a backup that follows the current retention policy, enter the following command:
      # dbaascli database backup --start --dbname <database_name>
    • To create a long-term backup, enter the following command:
      # dbaascli database backup --start --archival --dbname --tag <archival_tag>
  4. Exit the root-user command shell and disconnect from the compute node:
    # exit
$ exit
  5. Use the dbaascli database backup --status to check the status of UUID generated for the backup command
    # dbaascli database backup --status --uuid <uuid> --dbname <database_name>

To remove the backup configuration

  1. SSH to one of the database configured nodes in the VM cluster or DB system resource.
  2. Log in as opc and then sudo to the root user.
  3. Create a temp file with following parameters:
    • bkup_oss=no
    • bkup_cron_entry=no
    • bkup_archlog_cron_entry=no
  4. Use the above file with dbaascli database backup --configure to remove the backup configuration for a database.
    # dbaascli database backup --configure --configFile <file_name> --dbname <database_name>
  5. Use the dbaascli database backup --status to check the status of UUID generated for this command.
    # dbaascli database backup --status --uuid <uuid> --dbname <database_name>

This will disable all automatic backups.

To delete a backup in Object Storage

You can delete an archival or long-term backup from the Object Storage.

# dbaascli database backup --delete --backupTag --dbname <database_name>

Where:

  • --dbname - specifies Oracle Database name
  • --delete - deletes Archival backup.
  • --backupTag - specifies backup tag to delete.

Policy based backups are deleted with scheduled daily backups. Alternatively, you can use RMAN delete backup command to delete a backup from the Object store.

Using the API to Manage Backup and Recovery

Using the API to manage backups

For information about using the API and signing requests, see REST APIs and Security Credentials. For information about SDKs, see Software Development Kits and Command Line Interface.

Use these API operations to manage database backups:

For the complete list of APIs for the Database service, see Database Service API.

Alternative Backup Methods

Learn about alternative backup methods that are available in addition to the OCI Console.

Backup for databases on Exadata Cloud Infrastructure can be accomplished through several methods in addition to the automatic backups configured in the console. Generally, the console (or the OCI API / CLI that correspond to it) is the preferred method as it provides the simplest and most automated method. In general, it is preferable to leverage the OCI Console, OCI API, or OCI command-line over alternative management methods. However, if required actions cannot be completed through the preferred methods, two other options are available to manually configure backups: dbaascli and Oracle Recovery Manager (RMAN).

Note

Use the dbaascli database backup, dbaascli pdb backup, dbaascli database recover, and dbaascli pdb recover commands to backup and recover container databases and pluggable databases. For more information, see User Configured Backup in Oracle Recommended Options to Perform Backup and Recovery Operations.

RMAN is the backup tool included with the Oracle Database. For information about using RMAN, see the Oracle Database Backup and Recovery User's Guide for Release 19. Using RMAN to back up databases on Exadata Cloud Infrastructure provides the most flexibility in terms of backup options, but also the most complexity.

Note

While using RMAN for restoring databases backed up through any method described herein is considered safe, RMAN should NEVER be used to set up backups in conjunction with either console (and OCI API / CLI), nor in conjunction with dbaascli. If you choose to orchestrate backups manually leveraging RMAN, you should not use either console automated backups, nor should you use dbaascli. You must first completely disable console based automated backups. For more information, see Disabling Automatic Backups to Facilitate Manual Backup and Recovery Management.

The dbaascli method offers a middle ground between RMAN and console automated backups in terms of flexibility and simplicity. Use dbaascli if needed functionality is not supported with console automated backups, but when you wish to avoid complexity of using RMAN directly. In certain cases, dbaascli can be used to modify the console automated backup configuration, but this is not generally the case. Generally, dbaascli must be used instead of enabling backups in the console.

Disabling Automatic Backups to Facilitate Manual Backup and Recovery Management

Backups, configured in the Exadata Cloud Infrastructure console, API or dbaascli work for a variety of backup and recovery use cases. If you require use cases not supported by the cloud-managed backups, then you can manage database backup and recovery manually, using the Oracle Recovery Manager (RMAN) utility. For information about using RMAN, see the Oracle Database Backup and Recovery User's Guide for Release 19.

Managing backup and recovery, using RMAN, on Exadata Cloud Infrastructure requires taking full ownership of both database and archive log backups, and the cloud-managed backups should no longer be used. Before manual backups are started, the cloud-managed backup functionality should be disabled. This is needed so the cloud backup jobs do not purge archive logs before they are manually backed up and do not conflict with the manual backups.

You can use the dbaascli utility to disable cloud-managed backups, including disabling the automatic archive log purge job.

Recovering a Database Using Oracle Recovery Manager (RMAN)

If you backed up your database using dbaascli, then you can manually restore that database backup by using the Oracle Recovery Manager (RMAN) utility. For information about using RMAN, see the Oracle Database Backup and Recovery User's Guide for Release 19.

Note

While recovering using RMAN is safe, you must not use RMAN to initiate backups or edit backup setting in conjunction with either dbaascli usage or in conjunction with automated console backups. Doing so could result in conflicting conditions or over-writes of settings, and backups may not execute successfully.

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